News

Agata Boutanos became CEO of the European Justice Forum with effect of 1st December 2025.

Agata specializes in strategic communication towards the European environment.  Over the course of sixteen years she has been involved in determining the impact of policies on business activities and translating the needs of market entities into effective communication campaigns.

EJF members met in Brussels on 6 November 2025 for the second Members’ Meeting of the year, kindly hosted by Jones Day.

Opening the meeting, Chair Simon Neill announced an upcoming leadership transition at EJF, with Ekkart Kaske stepping down in January 2026 after eight and a half years as Executive Director.

The European Justice Forum has commissioned a major new study by the Brussels-based think tank ECIPE – the European Centre for International Political Economy – analysing the growing economic and policy implications of mass litigation and third-party litigation funding (TPLF) in Ireland.

The report, published today, ‘Mass Litigation and the Future of Litigation Funding in Ireland and Europe’, provides the first empirical assessment of how large-scale, investor-driven legal actions could affect Ireland’s economy, competitiveness, and innovation. It highlights potential annual costs of between €1.2 and €3.6 billion and calls for clear, proportionate regulation to ensure that access to justice is not distorted into a commercial investment product.

EJF commissioned the report to support an evidence-based dialogue on how collective redress and litigation funding can be managed transparently and fairly - protecting consumers, businesses, and the broader economy alike.

EJF believes that a balanced and transparent civil justice system is essential to Europe’s competitiveness and welcomes the study as an important contribution to that debate.

Access the full report below and read our LinkedIn post here.

As the EU advances its Digital Package initiative to simplify and align digital regulation, EJF released a paper outlining how the Product Liability Directive (PLD) can be better integrated into the EU’s wider digital framework. The objective is to improve legal coherence, reduce administrative duplication, and maintain effective consumer protection.

The revised PLD already functions as a digital law, extending liability to software, AI, and connected services. However, it has evolved separately from other EU digital legislation, creating overlapping obligations and inconsistencies.

EJF has identified key provisions where targeted clarifications and guidance could improve predictability and legal certainty across digital laws:

• Evidence disclosure (Article 9): Link PLD disclosure obligations to existing EU compliance repositories (“provide once, use many times”) to avoid duplication;
• Presumptions of defect and causation (Article 10): Ensure compliance with EU safety and digital regulation can rebut presumptions of defect or causation, providing greater legal certainty for businesses;
• Consistent terminology: Harmonise definitions of “product” and “service” across digital legislation, to avoid litigation risks and enhance consistency;
• Expiry period (Article 17): Clarify the application of the 25-year limitation period to digital products, to maintain proportionality and avoid unintended costs and barriers to innovation;
• Consistent national implementation: Promote coherence across Member States’ interpretation by issuing harmonised interpretative guidance or clarifying recitals through this initiative to prevent fragmentation and forum shopping.

The Digital Fitness Check offers a chance to assess the overall coherence and impact of EU digital legislation. EJF’s recommendations call for integrating the PLD into this process to help the Commission identify overlaps, clarify evidentiary links, and ensure liability rules evolve consistently with other digital acts, creating a more balanced and innovation-friendly framework for consumers and businesses alike.

Access the full paper here.